After being outplayed for the first two periods, a mere couple of moments flipped the script for Northeastern en route to a 4-2 win over Notre Dame Saturday night, sweeping the weekend series with the Fighting Irish.

Zach Aston-Reese scored just 2:06 into the third period and then again just 10 seconds later to give Northeastern a lead the Huskies would not relinquish.

“I thought our guys played hard today in the third period,” Northeastern coach Jim Madigan said. “I didn’t think we had the energy or sense of urgency in the first two periods.”

“I thought we played well in the first,” added Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson. “I thought we played okay in the second and then they took over the game in the third.”

Clay Witt was back in net for Northeastern after Derick Roy got the last three nods between the pipes for the Huskies. Cal Petersen manned the crease for Notre Dame, coming up on the losing end of both games this weekend.

A bright spot for Notre Dame on the weekend was the power play. After coming into the series hovering around eight percent, the Irish scored two in the game, which brought their total to three for the two-game set.

“We finally found some chemistry with two different groups,” said Jackson. “That’s 90 percent of it.”

That is exactly how Notre Dame scored the first goal of the game – on the man-advantage.

With Garret Cockerill in the box for tripping, Thomas DiPauli found a loose puck in the slot and fired it over the shoulder of Witt for the 1-0 lead.

Only seven shots were taken between the two teams in the opening frame, with Northeastern only getting a measly two of them. The latter of the two Northeastern put into the back of the net.

Mike McMurty brought the puck into the offensive zone for the Huskies and found a streaking Dalen Hedges, who roofed it over Petersen for his seventh goal of the year.

In addition to Saturday, Hedges had two goals Friday night in the Huskies’ 3-2 win.

It was a chippy opening frame between the teams, with a combined 10 penalty minutes being served.

Shots started to pick up in the second period with Notre Dame outshooting Northeastern 11-9, but neither team was able to light the lamp.

The best chance of the period came for Northeastern’s Torin Snydeman when he found a puck on his stick right in the crease, but Petersen was able to get over for the save.

“I thought they beat us to some pucks,” Madigan said of the first two periods. “They wanted it more than us for the first two periods.”

In the locker room between the period, things changed for Northeastern, who were determined to seize the chance they had in front of them.

“They realized we have a great opportunity here in front of us,” Madigan said. “There’s a team whose a point ahead of us, so we can jump them in the standings.

“The strategy was simple – let’s throw everything we can at them and see how we go.”

That strategy paid off quickly for Northeastern.

Aston-Reese scored his first of two right off the bat. Cockerill threw a long clear off the boards and Aston-Reese got to it with open ice in front of him. He capitalized and shot it top shelf to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead.

Right on the ensuing faceoff, Mike Szmatula rushed to the net and found Aston-Reese who snuck it around the post.

“We just kept it simple,” Aston-Reese said. “I can’t really remember, I kind of blacked out a little bit.

“We’ve been working on that all week, getting pucks at the net and driving the net hard. [We] just stuck to it.”

Northeastern held on to the two-goal advantage for over 13 minutes until the Irish made it a ballgame again.

With Nolan Stevens off for interference, Notre Dame once again crashed the net and was rewarded when Anders Bjork skied a puck past Witt to make it 3-2.

Unfortunately for the Irish, any hope of a comeback was quickly dashed.

With 2:52 left to go in the game Szmatula brought the puck from behind the net, took an off-angle shot and put it over the shoulder of Petersen for the 4-2 lead.

“In the third period, even though we didn’t have great legs, we found a way to play a little smarter, dig a little deeper, and get that one big shift,” Madigan said.

Next up for Northeastern is the Beanpot, where the Huskies will face Boston College in the semifinals on Feb. 2.

For Jackson’s squad, the weekend sweep drops the Irish to seventh in the Hockey East standings.

“They [Northeastern] do a great job defensively,” Jackson said. “We need to keep the puck moving. The puck stalls and then we get outnumbered and it’s out of the zone.

“We didn’t keep the puck moving in the offensive zone.”

This article can also be found on USCHO…Follow Josh Brown on Twitter @josh_brown31

Northeastern has sure had a flare for the dramatic in the team’s current 8-2-3 stretch after starting out the year an abysmal 0-8-1.
It was the same and song dance Friday night for the Huskies, who scored with just 1:30 left to pick up much-needed Hockey East points in a 3-2 victory over Notre Dame.

Dalen Hedges’ second goal of the night proved to be the winning one when he collected a one-timer from linemate Mike McMurtry and shot it past Irish goalie Cal Peterson.

“I saw ‘Kev’ [Kevin Roy] make a really nice play to ‘Murch’ [McMurtry],” Hedges said. “I saw we had a two-on-one. I knew Murch could get it to me there so I just got open.”

Derick Roy made his third start in a row for Northeastern (9-11-4, 4-7-2), stopping 21 of the 23 saves he saw on the night. Petersen was much more active in having to face 37 shots in the loss.

The defeat drops Notre Dame (10-12-3, 5-3-3) to 1-1-4 in the team’s last six games.

A scoreless first period was not without plenty of chances with most of the grade-A opportunities coming for Northeastern. The Huskies outshot Notre Dame 16-5 in the opening frame, but Petersen was up to the task, stopping every shot he faced.

“[Petersen] was outstanding,” said Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson. “He did what he had to do. I challenged him this morning because he’s slowly taking over our No. 1 job.

“That’s what he’s capable of; it’s just a matter of him doing it on a nightly basis.”

Northeastern would once again come out firing in the second period, taking a 1-0 lead with just under three minutes gone in the frame.

Dustin Darou fed Kevin Roy in the slot, who proceeded to rip it over the shoulder of Petersen and into the back of the net for Roy’s 11th goal of his junior campaign.

Midway through the second, Derick Roy made the save of the night robbing Mario Lucia of a goal as he went side to side in a hurry to save a puck Lucia was trying to gently tap into the net.

A couple minutes later on the power play, the Huskies took a 2-0 lead via Hedges.

With bodies scrambling in front of the net, jamming away at a lose puck, Hedges came flying in and with his back turned, put a shot towards the cage that ended up beating Petersen.

“I just wanted to get it on net,” Hedges said. “I think we had about three wacks at it there. I just figured put it on net, maybe another rebound, maybe it’ll go in, and it ended up working out.”

“I thought we played really well for the first two periods,” Northeastern coach Jim Madigan said. “I liked the way we pressured the puck [and] I liked the way we were attacking.”

In what was a surprising move early in the third, Notre Dame elected to take a power play over a penalty shot after Matt Benning intentionally covered the puck in the crease for Northeastern.

With their power play only hitting around eight percent on the season, the decision ended up paying off as Lucia buried a one-timer to bring Notre Dame within one.

The Irish continued to chip away, scoring the equalizer with just 6:45 remaining.

Jake Evans brought the puck through the neutral zone, dumping it off for Sam Herr, who proceeded to fire a rocket from just inside the blue line that got through traffic in front of the net, and behind Roy.

With both teams letting the final couple minutes come to them, Northeastern found its chance with 1:30 left on the Hedges game-winner to send the Huskies’ faithful home happy with the win.

“We had a lot of belief on the bench,” Hedges said. “We knew Derick would shut the door for us. We allowed them to get in the game, and that was a big goal.”

The Northeastern Huskies traveled up to Burlington, Vermont to play the #9 University of Vermont Catamounts over the weekend, winning on Friday night, while tying a non-conference matchup Saturday. The non-conference game was due to the Wildcats traveling down to Matthews Arena earlier in the year, defeating the Huskies 6-2 in that matchup.

Derick Roy got the start in net both nights for Northeastern (8-11-4, 4-7-2 Hockey East), stopping 50 of the 53 shots he faced on the weekend. Mike Santaguida was between the pipes for Vermont (15-6-2, 7-4-1 Hockey East) on Friday with Brody Hoffman getting the nod on Saturday.

Torin Snydeman put the Huskies up 2-1 in the second period when he was able to find open ice, and roof the puck over Santaguida for the lead.

Northeastern would tack two more on the third, one from Mike McMurtry which beat Santaguid five-hole, and another from Mike Szmatula who cleaned up a rebound in the slot. Vermont would have no answer, with the Huskies coming away with the 4-1 win.

Vermont would come out firing on Saturday, taking a 1-0 lead just minutes into the game when Brady Shaw scored 5-on-3 for the early goal.

Northeastern would answer with 5:13 left in the period off a Mike McMurtry tip on a Matt Benning slap shot from the blue line to tie the game at one.

The Catamounts took a 2-1 lead in the second period, again on the power play, off of a Colin Markison goal. Markison redirected a shot by Paliotta into the back of the net.

Again, the Huskies would answer tying the game on yet another Kevin Roy goal. Roy had a clean break going down ice, and with no hesitation shot it over the glove of Hoffman and into the back of the net.

Both teams had several chances in both the third and overtime, ending the non-conference tilt in a tie.

Northeastern will host Notre Dame on both Friday and Saturday, with complete coverage on WRBB.

Boston College and Northeastern were desperate for Hockey East points coming into this weekend’s home-and-home set. The Eagles were able to get three of them.

Following a 1-1 tie at Matthews Arena Friday night, the Eagles capitalized on home ice, beating the Huskies 4-2 in what was an overall success of a weekend for Jerry York’s team.

“I think we’ve gradually improve as a team in all facets,” York said. “Our goaltendings better, just our overall team play is better.”

The Eagles (12-7-2) came into the game 7-2-2 in their last 11 games after a mediocre 5-5 start to begin the year. Northeastern (7-11-3), similarly entered the matchup on a 7-3-2 tear of their own after starting the year 0-8-1.

All eyes were on goalies Thatcher Demko and Clay Witt on Saturday afternoon, after the two put on a goaltending clinic in Friday’s tie, combining to stop 50 of the 52 shots they faced.

“And us not being able to execute on the power play, which we’ve been very good [at] this year were the two difference makers in the game.”

Even with two 5-on-3 opportunities the Huskies could not capitalize, despite entering the game with a red hot power play that tallied their fifth goal on the man advantage of the week Friday night.

Northeastern drew first blood on Saturday at the 8:40 mark of the first period courtesy of Torin Snydeman.

Mike Szmatula, who was standing directly to the right of Demko, dished the puck out in front to Snydeman who slipped it into the back of the net.

Northeastern continued to threaten the Eagles, including a rocket from Nolan Stevens that Demko was able to catch with the glove.

Boston College would tie the game at the 18:03 mark of the first period on Mike Matheson’s second goal of the season. The defenseman took a wrist shot off a pass from Teddy Doherty that sailed over the shoulder of Witt.

It only took the Eagles 52 seconds to take the lead on Chris Calnan’s first of two goals on the night. The sophomore found a rebound floating in front of Witt, and amid a platoon of bodies in the crease buried it home.

“I didn’t think we had a lot of energy to start the game,” Madigan said, “I don’t know what it was, we just didn’t have that sense of urgency.”

“I think by scoring the first goal it might of been a false hope of impression there that we were playing well,” Madigan continued. “It’s not like we were playing bad, we were just average.”

Northeastern came out firing in the second period, out-shooting the Eagles 17-9. Thatcher Demko continued to hold the fort, stopping everything and anything in his sight.

Midway through the period, even with Ryan Fitzgerald in the box for an elbowing penalty, Calnan scored his second of the night to make it a two-goal game.

Calnan, who was standing behind Witt, sent a shot off the back of his pads and into the net for the short handed goal. It would stand as the only goal of the period.

Three penalties were taken in the first five minutes of the third period (two by Northeastern), with neither team able to capitalize. At the 13:26 mark of the period the Huskies made it a ball game.

John Stevens gave Trevor Owens a pass at the blue line that he quickly fired on goal. After Demko was able to make the initial stop, Ryan Rosenthal crashed the net and buried the rebound home to pull the Huskies within one.

Immediately following the goal Zach Aston-Reese got called for a tripping penalty, giving Boston College a man advantage. Like the Eagles have done so many times over the years against the Huskies, they capitalized, putting the game away once and for all.

Adam Gilmour took a pass from Zach Sanford and quickly one-timed it on Witt. The puck sailed through a couple defenders and eventually into the back of the net to make it 4-2.

Some notes and observations from Northeastern’s 3-2 win over Yale Tuesday night. Big thanks to Northeastern Sports Information for the notes.

NOTES:

Kevin Roy’s goal at the 15:40 mark of the second period was his 100th career point.

Roy’s the 47th player in team history to reach the feat.

Roy is also only the 21st player in team history to do it in three years or less.

Mike McMurtry’s game winning goal with 3:14 left was his first of the season.

The Northeastern power play has 9 goals in the last three games.

Matt Benning has five assists in his last four games.

OBSERVATIONS:

That stat about the Huskies power play is not at all deceiving. They are on fire. For a team who used to dread the man advantage, these past few weeks have been a pleasant surprise.

Derick Roy has stepped up huge. His 2-5-1 record is no indication of his play. The past two games is a very encouraging sign for next year, when he will have an even bigger responsibility in net with a young goal tending platoon.

Northeastern needs to stop playing dump and chase hockey. The Huskies are a very good passing team. When they get in their own offensive zone and move the puck around they are a force to be reckoned with.

60-minutes. How many times do we need to say it. The Huskies HAVE to play consistent 60-minute games. They are going to get burned in league play the second half of the year playing a period and a half.

Physicality will be huge against Boston College. When Northeastern is clicking they are a dominating team along the boards and in front of the net.

Even when they’re not scoring that third line with Stevens x2 and Rosenthal does all the little things. They do not take a shift off.

NU is going to need an Aston-Reese moment at some point sooner than later. He’s been relatively quiet lately. Look for him to have a breakout performance soon (what better time than BC).

WRBB will have full coverage of Northeastern-BC. Ryan Fallon and Josh Brown will be on the call both Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m.).

BOSTON– Neither brother played last night. Tonight they were all the difference.

Behind a two goal, three point night by Kevin Roy, and 21 saves by his brother Derick, Northeastern was able to beat St. Lawrence (8-9-2) 4-2 Saturday night, after the two clubs tied 3-3 Friday night.

“I liked the way we responded here tonight,” said Huskies coach Jim Madigan. “Last night we had a pretty good third period, it bailed us out. I thought we played more of a 60-minute effort.”

“I’m really happy for him (Derick),” said Kevin Roy after the game.” “He’s been working really hard and he’s been playing some great games.”

It was the first win of the season for Derick, after going 0-5-1 during a stretch of games earlier in the season when he was filling in for the injured Clay Witt. Tonight with Witt resting due to a brutal stretch of upcoming games for the Huskies’, Roy made the most of his opportunity, improving his team to 6-10-2 on the season.

“I thought Derick Roy was really good tonight,” said Madigan. “(He) played with a lot of poise, and composure and confidence, and it was great for him to get his first win here (this season).”

After giving up two goals on the penalty kill Saturday night, St. Lawrence coach Greg Carvel was not happy with both; the calls and the way his team executed.

“After two games in this league I question what penalties are,” Carvel said. “Last night we were the better special teams, and tonight they were the better team on special teams.”

Despite two, one-on-zero opportunities for Northeastern freshman Nolan Stevens in the first period, the Saints’ received strong goal tending from Kyle Hayton stopping everything in his path.

St. Lawrence lit the lamp first at 14:42 of the opening frame when Patrick Doherty gave Matt Purmal a pass in the slot that he was able to roof over Roy for the early lead.

With Nolan Gluchowski in the box for interference, Northeastern capitalized on a Kevin Roy goal to tie the game at one.

Mike McMurtry, who was along the right wall, passed the puck to Roy in the high slot. The junior skated towards the net, got hit, and while falling down threw a shot on net that caught Hayton off guard and went in for the equalizer.

“We had a good entry on the power play,” Roy said. “Mike McMurtry did a nice play. He dragged two guys and I had a lot of space, and I tried to just get it on net.”

“I got pulled a little bit and I was able to get it through somehow.”

Just under 10 minutes later the Huskies had their first lead of the weekend when again on the power play they found of the back of the net, this time via Dalen Hedges.

Roy threw a cross ice pass to line-mate Mike Szmatula who quickly connected with Hedges, who then fired a rocket past Hayton for the goal.

The Saints’ would come battling back just 3:22 later after Gunnar Hughes collected a rebound off a Gavin Bayreuther shot that hit the pads of Roy and jammed it home.

After the first 18:31 of the third period saw back-and-forth action with both teams getting, but not capitalizing on several opportunities, the Huskies’ finally broke through courtesy of Mike Szmatula.

Szmatula used a quick stick to steal the puck in the neutral zone, flew into offensive territory and sniped a shot over the left shoulder of Hayton for what turned out to be the game-winner.

Roy added on to his already big night with 43 seconds remaining in the game, scoring an empty-net goal to secure the win.

Madigan called Roy a complete package after the game, while also pointing out that the Huskies’ more disciplined approach staying out of the penalty box did wonders for his team.

“He’s highly skilled, he’s smart, he can shoot it and he can pass it,” Madigan said.

“We’re a 5-on-5 team. That’s when we’re best. Tonight we were a lot better and more focused.”

Carver was also pleased with his teams effort despite the loss, citing that the bounces just did not go their way on this night.

“I thought we did a good job executing the second and third periods,” he said, “creating turnovers off our forecheck.”

“Just couldn’t get enough pucks to the net, and couldn’t capitalize enough.”

This article can also be found on USCHO…follow Josh Brown on Twitter @josh_brown31

BOSTON — Down 3-0 heading into the third while playing without Kevin Roy due to illness, it looked like it would be a rough start to the new year for Northeastern.

The Huskies went on to score three third period goals to salvage a 3-3 against St. Lawrence (8-8-2) and prolong their festivities for at least another night.

“Pleased that we responded, backs against the wall,” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan. “But we’ve got to be smarter, play harder for 60 minutes if we are going to beat good teams like St. Lawrence and teams in our league.”

“We need to be a desperate team,” Carvel said. “We lost four games in a row coming in here. Our team could not find the desire to really put that game away.”

Despite the six goals scored combined between the teams, one of the more hyped goalie matchups of the season between the Huskies’ Clay Witt and the Saints’ Kyle Hayton lived up to the potential, with both netminders making acrobatic saves to keep their respective teams in the game.

Despite being outshot 9-7 in the opening frame, St. Lawrence netted the only goal of the period when Brian Ward shot a rocket from the dot that beat traffic in front of the net and ultimately, Witt, to give his team the 1-0 lead.

The power-play goal was the first of three St. Lawrence scored on the night.

The Saints nearly went up 2-0 a couple minutes later when a deflected puck was called ‘no goal,’ the officials saying it was knocked into the net by the hand of Mike Marnell.

A combined 19 penalty minutes were served in the second period (11 by Northeastern), with only St. Lawrence able to take advantage.

With the Huskies shorthanded due to a Zach Aston-Reese five-minute boarding call, Sean McGovern picked up a Woody Hudson rebound and slammed it home to give St. Lawrence a two-goal lead.

Just 45 seconds later, the Saints made it 3-0 when they again crashed the net on a Patrick Doherty shot and Gunnar Hughes was there to jam it in the back of the net.

Despite St. Lawrence getting a majority of the calls, Carvel thought the penalties ruined the tempo of the game.

“I thought a lot of the penalties tonight shouldn’t have been penalties,” he said. “But they set a standard early and called it the whole game.

“It affected the flow of the game for sure.”

Northeastern came battling back early in the third period while shorthanded when John Stevens stole a puck in the defensive zone, brought it down ice and dished it to his brother, Nolan, who scored the Huskies’ first goal.

“It’s completely mental breakdowns,” said Carvel. “It’s inexcusable to have a power play up 3-0 and give up a shorthanded goal.”

Midway through the period, the Huskies continued to claw at the lead on Trevor Owens’ first collegiate goal set up by a Torin Snydeman pass in transition that he was able to fire by Hayton.

After the Huskies had numerous opportunities in the home stretch but could not capitalize, they pulled Witt in favor of an extra attacker. It paid off when Mike Szmatula threw a pass from behind the net to Adam Reid, who was able to send it over the blue line and force overtime.

Both goalies shined in overtime, making big stops to preserve the tie and send both teams home disappointed at the missed opportunity.

“Really upset because our teams been pretty consistent with our effort,” Carvel said. “And in that third period, the breakdowns are things I haven’t seen from my team.”

Madigan, whose Huskies sit at 5-10-2, will face this same St. Lawrence team Saturday night and expects better mental preparation from his squad.

“I don’t think we should be satisfied,” he said. “We’ve got to be smarter.

“The enemy sometimes is us.”

This article can also be found on USCHO…Follow Josh Brown on Twitter @josh_brown31

PROVIDENCE- After Wednesday night’s 5-1 shellacking by the Providence College Friars, Northeastern coach Jim Madigan called his team “soft” and assured that no one’s job in the lineup was safe. The Huskies took that message to heart, and proceeded to go into Providence Saturday afternoon and defeat the Friars 2-1 behind goals by Colton Saucerman and Zach Aston-Reese, along with a season-high 37 saves by Goaltender Clay Witt.

“I think it kind of grabbed our guys attention,” said Madigan, “because their’s a lot of pride in that locker room, and I don’t know as a hockey player their’s a worse word to be called than soft.”

“I’m really proud of the way our guys played this afternoon,” Madigan added. “Having not played a good second, third period against Providence (8-6-1, 6-4-0) in our building it was great to rebound here tonight.”

Despite both teams getting 10 shots on goal in the first period, no team was able to find the back of the net in a period where Witt and Friars Goaltender Jon Gillies displayed why they are two of the best at their position in the country, trading highlight reel saves in the process.

Much like Wednesday night’s game, Colton Saucerman put the Huskies (4-10-1, 3-6-1) up 1-0 just 2:46 into the second period on a power play goal.

Dalen Hedges took a shot off a Kevin Roy pass that was blocked by Gilles, but Saucerman was right in front of the net and was able to pick up the rebound and jam it home to give Northeastern first blood.

Throughout the middle of the second period the Friars had a couple good scoring opportunities on the power play and full strength, but in each and every case Witt stood tall for the Huskies keeping the lead in check.

At the 14:41 mark of the middle frame, Zach Aston-Reese put Northeastern up 2-0 after he one-timed a pass from Mike Szmatula into the back of the net, sending his team to the locker room with the momentum.

A scary moment for Northeastern occurred in the second period when Defenseman Mike Gunn was forced to leave the game after being hit into the boards hard by Brandon Tanev. Gunn would not return to the game.

With the Friars on the power play in the opening minutes of the third period, they sprayed Witt with shots from left and right, but the Floridian saved every one including a sprawling save across the goal line to keep his shutout in tact.

Witt would lose the shutout a few minutes later when Trevor Mingoia scored his third goal against the Huskies in two games, on a 4-on-3 power play. Mingoia deflected a Nick Saracino shot off his shoulder and past Witt for the goal.

That would be all the Friars would get though, as Witt would deny everything else that came his way as the game winded down.

“I thought we were really controlled and composed,” Madigan said, “and Clay made some real big saves when he had to. From my end our mentality was such a grind it away each and every shift.”

The Huskies will next be action when they west to take on the Umass-Amherst Minutemen on December 16. The game can be heard on WRBB.

BOSTON- Five unanswered goals, including two a piece by linemates Trevor Mingoia and Ross Mauermann led the Providence College Friars to a 5-1 win over Northeastern at Matthews Arena Wednesday night.

The Huskies (3-10-1, 2-6-1 in Hockey East) scored the first goal of the game with less than two minutes to go in the first period, but from there it was all Friars (8-5-1, 6-3-0 in Hockey East) who relied on their aggressive offense and excellent goaltending to secure the win.

“In the second and third period it was just an old fashion whooping that Providence gave us,” said Huskies coach Jim Madigan. “We didn’t skate, we didn’t play smart, we took too many penalties, we were soft.”

“Boy were we soft on pucks,” Madigan added.

The Friars came out flying, dominating the tempo out of the shoot, before the Huskies were eventually able to settle the pace down in what ended up being a back-and-forth opening frame.

The Huskies were able to find the back of the net first when Colton Saucerman collected a rebound off a Matt Benning shot that went wide, and shot it off a Friar defender and eventually past Providence goalie Jon Gillies.

“After the first five minutes of the first period I thought we played really well,” Madigan said.

The tides would turn quickly though, as Providence would take their play to another level in the second period.

Trevor Mingoia got it going early in the period for the Friars, scoring a power play goal after taking a pass from Jake Walman and burying it past Huskies net-minder Clay Witt.

At the 5:49 mark in the second period Ross Mauermann received a pass from Nick Saracino in a tight window that Mauermann was able to get a read on, and shot it high into the net past Witt.

The Friars would continue to pour it on in the second period when Mauermann found a streaking Noel Acciari who wrapped one just inside the post for his first goal of the year, to make it 3-1 Providence.

“I thought we showed some good mental toughness coming out o the first period down 1-0, and continuing to get better throughout the game,” said Providence coach Nate Leaman.

“I thought they [Northeastern] had a very good game plan going into the game,” added Leaman. “We had to make some adjustments. We just kept getting better throughout the game.”

Providence would do just that in the third period, and continue to tack on to their lead while smothering the Northeastern offense any time they entered their offensive zone.

Mauermann added insult to injury at the 8:26 mark of the third period, scoring shorthanded with a Huskies defender playing tight defense on him and drawing a penalty in the process, as he put it in the back of the net.

The penalty was one of seven that the Huskies took throughout the course of the game.

Mingoia would score his second of the game with just 3:56 remaining, ripping a one-timer from Nick Saracino over the blocker of Witt to make it 5-1 Friars.

The #16 ranked Friars dominated the face-off dot all night long winning 37 of 59 on the night, including many in key situations on the power play and shorthanded.

Despite a slower start then they wanted out of the gate this season, Leaman see’s improvement in his team every game.

“We’re pretty fortunate to be where we’re at,” Leaman said. “Fortunately our goaltendings been great. Our defense has been pretty good. We got to just keep working, and take it one game at a time.”

On the other side Madigan could not understand why his team came out “soft” after coming off a win against #3 Minnesota, and having won three of their last four games.

BOSTON- A Kevin Roy goal with just 2:36 remaining in the game lifted Northeastern to a 3-2 upset win over Minnesota (8-3-0) Saturday night at Matthews Arena.

Dalen Hedges, who was behind the net, gave Roy a pass right in the slot that he was able to slip by the blocker of Minnesota goalie Adam Wilcox to give the Huskies (3-9-1, 2-5-1 in Hockey East) the teams third win in four games.

“We just wanted to get the puck down low,” Roy said, “and Mike McMurtry and Dalen Hedges made a great play down low battling.”

“Hedgy was able to get it to me in the middle and I had a lot of time,” Roy added. “I just tried to gain the slot and take a shot on net, and it ended up going low blocker.”

Northeastern got the first good chance of the game but were not able to convert, when they were awarded a five-minute power play as a result of a Mike Reilly hit from behind, which sent him to the locker room for a game misconduct just 2:39 into the action.

Minnesota found the back of the net first on a Justin Kloos one-timer he received from defenseman Ben Marshall, that beat Huskies goalie Clay Witt to the right side to give the Gophers a 1-0 lead.

Northeastern was able to knot the score up at one when junior Dustin Darou scored his first collegiate goal, following his rebound on an initially blocked shot and jamming it home past Wilcox.

“I thought we had pretty good energy in the first,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. “We had to kill about seven minutes in the first period and that obviously…took some of their [Minnesota] energy away.”

Northeastern took a 2-1 lead at the 6:32 mark in the second period when Brendan Collier scored his first goal as a Husky, shooting from the right boards on a pass from line-mate Dylan Sikura that quickly found the back of the net.

The lead would quickly vanish though, as Minnesota would score their second power play goal of the night on a five-on-three to tie the game back at two.

Connor Reilly threw the puck in deep from the point that Kyle Rau was able to deflect past Witt for the equalizer.

A back and forth third period found neither team able to crack the tie, until Roy scored the winner to send Minnesota home with a 1-1 record in Boston over the weekend, after defeating Boston College 6-2 Friday night.

“We just got to keep working and evolving as a team,” Lucia said. “When we’re successful we’re scoring a few goals. If we don’t get a five-on-five goal it’s difficult to win.”

“Any time you can beat a University of Minnesota hockey club you’re doing some things right.” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan. “I thought our preparation all week long was really good. I thought going into the game mentally, physically, emotionally we were at good levels.”

After a slow 0-8-1 start, the Huskies have posted a 3-1 mark in their last four outings.

“Their’s some good momentum and mojo in that locker room,” Madigan said. “We’re a good hockey club if we just stick to the game plan and play smart and with discipline.”

“We know we’re a really good team and we can play any night against any team in the country,” Roy said, “and tonight we proved that, so we have a lot of confidence moving forward.”

This article can also be found on uscho…Follow Josh Brown on Twitter @josh_brown31